Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Payments to borrowers under the Independent Foreclosure Review program are scheduled to begin on April 12 following an agreement reached by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve Board with 13 mortgage servicers.

The agreement, which was reached earlier this year, provides $3.6 billion in cash payments to borrowers whose homes were in any stage of the foreclosure process in 2009 or 2010 and whose mortgages were serviced by one of the following companies, their affiliates, or subsidiaries: Aurora, Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, Morgan Stanley, PNC, Sovereign, SunTrust, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo.

The payments will range from $300 to $125,000. For borrowers whose mortgages were serviced by 11 of the 13 servicers--all servicers but Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

Checks will be sent in several waves beginning with 1.4 million checks on April 12. The final wave is expected in mid-July 2013. More than 90 percent of the total payments to borrowers at those 11 servicers are expected to have been sent by the end of April.

Information about payments to borrowers whose mortgages were serviced by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will be announced in the near future by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve.

In most cases, borrowers will receive a letter with an enclosed check sent by the Paying Agent--Rust Consulting, Inc.

Some borrowers may receive letters from Rust requesting additional information needed to process their payments. Previously, Rust sent postcards to the 4.2 million borrowers notifying them of their eligibility to receive payment under the agreement.

Borrowers can call Rust at 1-888-952-9105 to update their contact information or to verify that they are covered by the agreement. Information provided to Rust will only be used for purposes related to the agreement.

Beware of Scams

Borrowers should beware of scams and anyone asking them to call a different number or to pay a fee to receive payment under the agreement.